Reaching for Rebecca

Chapter 31

REBECCA'S POV

I set Ryan's alarm to go off fifteen minutes early when I woke up in the middle of the night because I wanted to be able to do my hair this morning. As soon as the obnoxious beeping started, I slammed my hand on the clock to turn it off and slithered out of bed.

My hot shower was relaxing, especially since I shaved my legs and conditioned my long hair twice so It'd be extra soft. I was surprised to see Ryan awake when I went back into his room with the towel wrapped around me.

"Hey why'd you get up so early?" he asked sleepily while rubbing his eyes, an adorable sight.

"I wanted to do my hair today." He grinned with squinty eyes and slumped out of bed. On his way out, he stopped and pointed to the wall rack where all his clothing hung.

"The blue jersey," is all he said before dragging himself down the hall and into the bathroom.

Smiling to myself, I grabbed the navy-blue jersey and skipped across the hall to my own room where my jeans were. Slipping those on over my simple black panties, I covered my black bra with a cami and put Ryan's jersey on over top of that. Surprisingly, the waist wasn't overly large on me since it had to be tight enough on the players to not ride up during tackles and such but the sleeves were ginormous. I still tied the waist of the jersey so it was a more flattering fit before running downstairs to Steve and Sheila's master bathroom. I secretly got permission from Sheila to use her hair dryer, well I got permission to use anything of hers but it felt a little awkward just walking through their room to get to the attached bath. I can't imagine doing something like borrowing her clothes!

I dried my hair for about ten minutes before grabbing a curling iron, running back upstairs, and loosely curling it. While sweeping some mascara on quickly I heard Alex's loud feet stomping hurriedly down the stairs just before Ryan yelled up.

"Becs we gotta get going!"

"Coming!" I slung my backpack over my shoulder, grabbed Ryan's hoodie, and ran down the stairs straight to the truck. Sliding in before Alex, I pressed myself up against Ryan's side and brushed my loose hair out of my eyes to see him gawking at me.

"Uh, what?" I ask, already feeling the blush rising to my cheeks.

"Oh," he stopped to clear his throat and I heard Alex chuckle. "Nothing. You look pretty," he said before blushing himself and turning his attention to moving the truck towards the high school.

~~~

Walking down the hall while wearing the matching jersey and holding the hand of the school's starting quarterback earned quite a few glares from the jealous bystanders that loitered around the halls. When we finally made it to our shared locker, Ryan waited for me to open it before hovering over me so everyone's view was blocked.

"Thanks," I said shyly to which he smiled and nodded. It was amazing that he could read my emotions without even seeing my face.

"Becca can I tell you something?" He sounded nervous.

"Yeah. What is it Ryan?" I turned towards him and leaned my head back.

He shook his head profusely.

"Um never mind." I fisted the white jersey he was wearing and tugged on it lightly.

"Ryan come on. Tell me. Now I'm curious."

His gray eyes connected with mine before he spoke very thoughtfully: "I'm trying to distance myself from you but then you wear my clothes and snuggle up to me and I can't."

"Hey," I tugged at his shirt harder until he brought his head closer to my level. "I'm not made of glass Ryan. I know I overreact sometimes but I'm stronger than you think. If you don't want this it's fine, really. I can stick with just being your friend because I know you'll be there for me whenever I need you and I'm thankful for that."

"No," he leaned in a little closer and to anybody else in the hallway, it probably looked like we were making out with him all hunched over and my body completely out of view. "That's not at all what I want Becs. I want this to happen but I'm afraid I'll mess something up or hurt you somehow."

"You won't hurt me," I said softly before reaching up to caress his stubble filled jaw. "Now enough sappy talk. You have a game tonight and then you get to take this lucky lady to a party." I winked at the last part before setting my hands on his chest and pushing him away playfully.

"She is pretty lucky," he said while slinging an arm around my shoulder on our walk to chemistry. "Wearing the quarterback's jersey at the first home game is kind of a big deal."

"Hey! I'd say the quarterback is pretty lucky himself!" I feigned hurt until Ryan pulled me away from the doorway of the classroom and trapped me against the walls.

"He's very lucky." His voice was deep and raspy while his gray eyes gazed into my soul. I had no response, besides being slack jawed, so he eventually chuckled and backed away before pulling me into our class just as the bell rang.

~~~

The rest of my classes went by quickly until I walked into history and saw that my usual partner wasn't there.

"Hey Becca. Landon's not gonna make it today but I can be your partner if you want," Mason said from behind me.

"Oh," I was kind of surprised that he was talking to me. I know he's Ryan's friend and always polite but he never really spoke to me before. "That's alright. I know you're usually partners with Kate."

When Kate heard her name, she turned to look at us, her blonde hair flowing.

"No Becca it's okay," she added a sweet smile. "I'm going to be Mel's partner today."

I nodded in response and Mason moved away from his table to take Landon's seat that was next to me. I decide to check on Landon and make sure I still have a ride to the game tonight, otherwise I might have to tag along with Alex and his 'secret girl.'

___
|Becca Hanson > Landon - 11:36am|
Sent: Hey Landon. Are you feeling sick today?
Received: No I just had some stuff to do.
Received: I will pick you up tonight around 6:30.
Sent: Okay... see you then! :)
___

He didn't respond and I tried not to care but something seemed strange...

Anyways, Mason was a great partner for history. Who knew?

"You're a lot smarter than I thought," I said without thinking.

"Geez. Thanks," he huffed.

"Oh no! I didn't mean it like that!" I could literally feel the redness rising higher and higher just as Mason started chuckling.

"I know, it's fine. I'm not really that smart but history is my favorite subject."

"I wish history was my favorite. Then it wouldn't be so God-awfully boring." When he laughed his eyes crinkled up in the corners a little bit and I saw Kate give him a happy wave. Sitting right next to Kate was the devil reincarnated – Melissa. She glared at me with narrowed eyes.

"Hey," Mason nudged my side gently with an elbow, "Ignore Mel. She's just a spoiled bitch that's used to getting what she wants." Nodding my head, I turned my attention back towards our worksheet and kept it there until the end of class.

Walking to the cafeteria alone was different. I noticed the halls were almost empty once I snapped out of lala-land and started moving a little quicker towards noisy lunch room. Once I got to my already full table, I pulled a chair and sat down by Ryan who looked at me with worried eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to understand why he was so sad compared to his cheery mood this morning.

"Nothing. You and Landon are usually the first ones here so I kind of started freaking out when Mason told me Landon isn't in school and you weren't here yet." His rambling quieted down at the end and he looked down to his sandwich in mild embarrassment so I leaned against him.

"Thank you for worrying about me," I whispered although I knew he heard me.

"It's not annoying?"

"No Ryan. Remember a while ago we had this conversation. I'm not used to people caring but I decided I like the feeling." He flashed a smile and just stared at me for a little while before going back to his lunch and chatting with Mason.

All of a sudden, I got a text from an unknown number.

___
|Becca Hanson > UNKNOWN - 12:22pm|
Received: Hey this is Kate! I know I'm texting you from across the table but I wanted to invite you to my place after the game.
___

I looked up and saw her smiling at me. She quickly tilted her head towards Mel and Izzy but pointed at her phone again.

___
|Becca Hanson > UNKNOWN - 12:24pm|
Received: Mel and Izzy already have plans so I thought you'd like to get ready for the party with me.
Sent: That'd be fun :)
Received: Awesome! Add my number in your phone and text me where you are after the game so we can meet up :)
___

I entered her into my slowly growing contact list and grinned like a dork. Feeling Ryan trying to look over my shoulder, I held the phone out to him and he turned to smile at me and then Kate.

~~~

Ryan dropped me off at home before driving back to school for a team meeting and then the game. I lied around being lazy for a while and then decide to redo some of the flatter curls in my hair and put on a fresh layer of mascara. I also borrowed some of Sheila's nail polish so I could paint them a navy-blue color to match the jersey. Wishing I had more of a wardrobe, I lost myself on Pinterest just daydreaming about what I would wear to the party if I had a choice but it looks like this will be it.

Before I know it, Landon's knocking on the door to pick me up and I hadn't even eaten yet! Darn Pinterest really sucks you in.

"Hey, did you get everything done that you needed to?" I asked just for some small talk on the short walk to his black motorcycle.

"Yep." He didn't say anything else but helped me on the bike like always and took off quick so I had to wrap my arms around him.

~~~

The football field was already packed by the time we got there. Landon grabbed both my hands in one of his and walked in front of me, almost dragging me behind while he cleared a path through the crowd. There wasn't much room on the bleachers so we stood right up on near the fence. The view of the field wasn't that great but since we were standing behind the bench I got a nice sightline straight to Ryan's cute butt. As if he felt me looking at him, he turned around and shot me a wink. His white jersey was pulled taut across his wide chest and over his pads. The thick black lines drawn under his eyes only brought out the gray color more and the sweat already glistening in his hair made me want to run my fingers through it. That sounds gross but he looked delicious. Flashing a smile back at me as the team ran out on the field, he put on his helmet and sauntered out like the hot shot quarterback he most definitely is.

Landon didn't say much during the game but kept his eyes out watching the plays. Ryan was amazing, granted I have never watched football before, but I knew what it was about and how to score; things like that. He never made a single mistake. His plays were so impressive that the entire student section chanted his last name over and over when we neared the end.

We ended up winning and just as Landon was about to walk me back to his bike, I pulled him towards me.

"Can you wait with me?"

"Wait for what?" He seemed unusually grumpy. This was the longest phrase he's said out loud today.

"I'm texting Kate. She's taking me to her house to get ready for the party." Landon didn't answer but waited with me nonetheless until Kate appeared fifteen minutes later, in her cheerleading uniform.

"Aw is Landon coming to get all beautiful too?" she mocked. He rolled his eyes and left without saying goodbye.

"What's up his ass?" Kate laughed as we walked to her car. "Oh, by the way, I have this dress at home that is going to look soooo good on you!"